NOTE: This message was emailed on Sunday, March 30, to all Ballad Health team members from Alan Levine, CEO and President of Ballad Health. Dear colleague, I want to take a moment to recognize and express my deepest gratitude for the dedication, compassion and expertise of our physicians across the Ballad Health service area, whether they are a part of Ballad Health or practicing independently. Thousands of people each day benefit from their education, expertise, compassion and caring. In ways large and small, physicians, and those who support them, make an indelible difference in their communities.  Observed annually on March 30, Doctors’ Day is a time to honor the physicians who dedicate their lives to healing others. This tradition dates back to 1933, when the first Doctors’ Day was celebrated in Winder, Georgia, recognizing the anniversary of the first administration of anesthesia by Dr. Crawford W. Long. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush officially designated March 30…

NOTE: This message was emailed to all Ballad Health team members on Friday, March 21, 2025, from Alan Levine, CEO and President of Ballad Health. Good morning: Some of you may have seen or read about a purported national threat to hospitals by a terrorist organization. This threat has been communicated to us through law enforcement channels, and has been made public in various social media outlets. We take any threat seriously, and we always endeavor to protect our team members, our patients and our visitors. This morning, the senior team of Ballad Health met to implement our enhanced safety plans with our priority focus – again – to ensure the safety of our team members and patients/visitors. We also have consulted directly with our region’s law enforcement leadership, each of whom has been extremely diligent and helpful. For security reasons, I will not share details here about our plans. We rely upon the advice of law enforcement and…

NOTE: This message was emailed to all Ballad Health team members on Saturday, Dec. 21, from Alan Levine, Chairman and CEO of Ballad Health. Dear colleague, As we reflect on the joy and meaning of this Christmas season, it is impossible to do so without recognizing the acts of kindness and caring that each of you perform every day to help others. This was on full display over the past several months as we tried to help people who, in some cases, lost everything. The thankfulness and humility of the people we helped are testament to the good that God puts in our hearts – people who lost their material possessions, or even the lives of loved ones, and who were so moved by the caring and support – the stories are emotional and compelling. Personally, I am proud to be a part of an organization that places so much value in people. Never forget that is who…

NOTE: This message was emailed to all Ballad Health team members on Thursday, Nov. 28, from Alan Levine, Chairman and CEO of Ballad Health. To our Ballad Health Family: As we gather today with loved ones and reflect on the blessings of the past year, I want to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to each of you for your unwavering commitment to our mission of honoring those we serve. This Thanksgiving, I am especially thankful for the incredible acts of service and compassion displayed by our team. Today, I am honored to celebrate the inaugural Ballad Health Chairman’s Award, a rare and extraordinary recognition bestowed upon individuals who, through a single act or behavior, exemplify our core values of Creativity, Caring, Honesty, Respect, Faith, and Quality while advancing our mission in an extraordinary way. There is no group more deserving of this recognition than those who faced the ultimate challenge during the…

Dear Colleague, It is with heartfelt sadness that I report to you that a member of our Ballad Health family, a beloved nurse at Greeneville Community Hospital, Boone McCrary, tragically lost his life in the flash floods from Hurricane Helene. It was reported he was in a boat with his dog attempting to save the life of a civilian from the rapid floodwaters. Both Boone and his dog were found by search and rescue personnel.  This is an incredibly painful moment for all of us, and our hearts are with Boone’s family, friends and colleagues at Greeneville Community Hospital, as well as everyone who is suffering during this time of profound loss. Our team will remember Boone as the ultimate caregiver who was kind and compassionate with a larger-than-life personality. The past few days we have heard our team share stories of how he sang to team members and patients to lighten the mood and that he loved…

NOTE: This message was emailed to all Ballad Health team members on Thursday, Sept. 26, from Alan Levine, Chairman and CEO of Ballad Health. Good Morning! There are so many reasons to celebrate the great work happening throughout Ballad Health. This week, we announced that the Robotic Surgery Program at Franklin Woods was certified as a national Center of Excellence due to its commitment to high quality. We also announced a more than $120 million partnership with Varian – a project that will lead to the newest technology in cancer care being made available throughout our entire region.  And today, I am pleased to announce that Newsweek has named TWO of our nursing homes/post-acute facilities as among the best in America.  In Kingsport, Ballad Health’s Wexford House was named among the top 5 nursing homes in Tennessee and one of the best in America by Newsweek. It is ranked in the category of nursing homes with more…

NOTE: This message was emailed to all Ballad Health team members on Tuesday, May 7, from Alan Levine, CEO and president of Ballad Health. Dear colleague, This is always a special week for Ballad Health, as we take some time to recognize our extremely special nurses and all those team members who support the important clinical work we do to serve our patients. May 6 through May 12 is National Nurses Week and also Healthcare Week! Over the past several years, you’ve found the courage and faith to weather the COVID-19 pandemic that changed the face of healthcare across the globe. And while many think “COVID is gone,” we know the lingering impact of it better than anyone. The indelible impact of the historic labor shortages has affected no group of people more than those who work in healthcare. What inspires me is that, despite the burden the shortages have borne on each of us, we all…

This message was emailed to all Ballad Health team members on Thursday, April 4, 2024, from Alan Levine, Ballad Health’s President and CEO. Dear Colleagues: One of the things I am most proud of is the quality of people who are part of the Ballad Health leadership. When you look at those who serve in leadership roles, many of them have been a part of the legacy Mountain States Health Alliance or Wellmont Systems for most of their careers, and have given tirelessly to contribute to our mission. One such person is our Chief Financial Officer, Lynn Krutak. I have had the privilege of working with Lynn for nearly 11 years of her nearly 30 years of work for hospitals in our region, spanning from her time as a staff accountant for Indian Path Medical Center, controller at North Side Hospital, a multitude of roles with increasing responsibility within Mountain States Health Alliance, to her current role…

This message was emailed to all Ballad Health team members on Tuesday, Feb. 13, from Alan Levine, Ballad Health President and CEO. Dear Colleagues: As health systems throughout the nation continue to navigate the challenges of an historic shortage of nurses, Ballad Health has taken several important steps we believe will continue to help reduce the strain on our nursing staff. Make no mistake, we know that labor shortages are impacting several areas in addition to nursing, and steps have been taken, with some success, to mitigate the impact on our team. But nowhere is the national labor shortage more directly impacting patient care than in the nursing profession. The Council of State Boards of Nursing has predicted that from the commencement of the COVID-19 pandemic through 2027, approximately 900,000 nurses will leave the profession.  Ignoring these predictions is not an option for us and we must continue to act. Steps we have already taken…

When our health system was formed, Ballad Health established a set of core values, using team member input, that help guide us in how we care for the community. Over the coming months, we want to highlight these values and think about what they mean and how we can incorporate them into everything we do. As our CEO and president, Alan Levine, says, “Our values are not just words on a wall; they’re the guiding principles of who we are.” Our six Ballad Health core values, as chosen by our team members, are: Caring Creativity Faith Honesty Quality Respect Here’s a brief video message from Mr. Levine, introducing a series of upcoming messages highlighting our values – focusing on things like kindness, compassion and empathy. As you hear stories from around the system, think about how you would feel if you were the person in that story; let them serve as reminders that we should…

Dear Colleague: As we settle in for Thanksgiving, I’d like to first give thanks to our fellow team members, physicians and volunteers who will be serving our patients during the holiday. Many of our colleagues choose to work during the holiday so others can be with their families, and of course, to be able to show special attention to our patients who must be hospitalized or need other services during the holiday. Whatever brings you to work on this holiday, you all have the gratitude of our patients, your colleagues and our communities. This time of year provides us with an opportunity to count our blessings, and to reflect on what we value most. I hope that we all agree that kindness, compassion and empathy are core virtues that, when put on display and lived, make the lives of those around us better. In each and every interaction we have; with each other, with our patients and their families,…

NOTE: This message was emailed to all Ballad Health team members by Alan Levine, Ballad Health President and CEO, on Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. Good afternoon: Today is a day I believe causes each of us to pause. On this day 22 years ago, our country was attacked in an evil and unmerciful way, as innocent people were murdered before our eyes. I will never forget the morning it happened. I had just dropped my kids off to school, and heard the reporting on the first plane on my car radio. By the time I got to my office, the second plane had hit. I will never forget how I felt. I’m sure that’s the same for each of you. And, as is true of most things, we each processed it in our own way, and the trajectory of many American lives changed as a result.  In thinking about the message I wanted to share with you during…